Getting Ready

I can't believe our big move is coming up so quickly. We pick up our UHaul on Saturday morning and we are officially moving from the city. We did one last "camp out" at our home in Walnut Creek so we could put another coat of red on our playroom walls and so I could spend today working on preparing the house for the move. Can I just say I'm soooooo glad we will not be camping out there anymore. Next time we sleep there, Roger and I will be in our own bed and the kids will be in their own beds. Ahh. Can't wait!

Just for a visual: I picked up Sarah from school and it was raining. We left San Francisco at 5:15 pm and it took until 6:30 to pick up Roger. (Sarah was fast asleep by 5:30.) We then took a detour to find some drive-thru dinner at Taco Bell and then continued on our way to Walnut Creek. The rain made the roads slower than usual during rush-hour traffic. We didn't arrive until 7:15. William had napped from 1:30 until 4:15 so he was just chilling in the car for almost 3 hours. As you can imagine, he was more than wound up when we got to the house. Sarah, on the other hand had no desire to wake up and so we took off her shoes, put on a diaper and laid her on one of the twin mattresses upstairs. She didn't wake up again until almost 6 a.m.

Rog and I got to work while William played contentedly. I unloaded most of the books we had taken on previous trips and filled 3 bookshelves while Roger unloaded another car-load of "stuff" into the house. We ended up with quite a few boxes to return to our apartment to reload with more "stuff." We are coming from a one-bedroom apartment. Why do we have so much stuff?

By 9 pm we were ready to start working on applying the second coat of paint on our walls. I changed William's diaper, put on his PJs and placed him in his pack-and-play. He went down so easily!

I joined Roger and was in charge of the edges while Roger used the roller. We were in quite the groove when we heard little footsteps coming down the stairs and running into the kitchen. I thought Sarah had woken up. Silly me. It was William. He had climbed out of his pack-n-play and had the biggest grin on his face when he saw us working. Ugh! We quickly finished up our project and I tried getting William to sleep. No dice. Even when Roger and I turned out all the lights and laid down in our own make-shift beds (Rog on another twin bed and William & me on the love sac) in the family room, William wasn't a bit tired. He kept crawling all over me until I told Roger to try putting him back in the pack-n-play. As soon as Roger was back in his bed, William came back down the stairs. Awesome. I finally nodded off to sleep while William played in the dark. I have no idea when he eventually went to sleep. The next thing I knew Sarah was coming down the stairs crying because she was scared. At least it was almost 6 a.m. and she got a good nights sleep.

Needless to say, William will not be moving to a toddler bed anytime soon and I am very, very grateful he doesn't know how to climb out of his crib.


I guess I should also take a moment to give a William update since he is now 25 months. He is becoming quite the chatterbox and parrot. He loves to say "Woook" and show me a letter. He then makes the letter's sound. It's adorable. William also loves to kick, kick, kick. If it's on the ground, chances are he's going to kick it. He's getting a little pickier with his eating habits. And if there are any "treats" in sight, he will put down whatever he is holding (or eating) and reach for it. I swear my kids would live off of milk and treats if I let them! William still readily gives hugs and kisses and usually is a great sleeper. It's been a life-saver having Sarah in afternoon preschool while William naps for 2 1/2 hours. I've been able to pack, clean and take a nap of my own on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's been heavenly.

Well, I really should get back to packing. Just 3 more sleeps!

A laugh

So I realize this is totally "white trash" but I couldn't resist ... Enjoy!



Taken at a Burger King somewhere between Anaheim and St. George. Who do those kids belong to, seriously?

Happy Birthday William!

William turned two today. We had a blast opening presents and eating pumpkin chocolate chip muffins this morning.

Will with his unopened presents:


Presents - opened.


Mater


The Mack Truck




And of course, the big "Thank you Daddy"


William is getting so proficient in coloring. He loves it when Sarah leaves her colors out.



William loves playing with his cars and trucks. Now we just need to add some choo-choos to his collection and he will be set.

About William:

* Favorite Movies: Cars & Letter Factory
* Favorite Netflix Shows: Dora and Diego
* Favorite Toys: Cars, Trucks, Balls & Letter Magnets
* Favorite Book: Moo Baa LaLaLa by Sandra Boynton
* Favorite Food: Annie's Shells and Cheese
* Favorite Past time: Running outside or in our hallway.
* New Tricks: Can walk backwards quite proficiently. Is a chatterbox. Likes to say the sounds of letters he sees in words.

Will's Stats:
Height: 35 inches 70th percentile
Weight: 30 lbs 75th percentile
Head Circumference: 48 cm 60th percentile

We sure love you William! Happy Birthday!

Sarah's Cinderella Photo Shoot

After we visited Daddy at work we headed to Sears to get the kids photos. I wanted Sarah in her Cinderella dress. The camera was loving Sarah and Sarah loved taking princess photos. Watch out Disneyland!





Since I was already doing photos I thought, why not do a two-for-one. I brought along Sarah and William's Christmas outfits for their wall portraits. Unfortunately, by that time it was dinner time and William was done. Sarah was cooperating a little, but she wanted food too. After much tribulation this is the best we got:



We didn't get a good one of them together. Oh well. I knew I was pushing it. I really should have just quit after the Cinderella pics. I guess it's a live and learn experience! The good news is that we missed most of the traffic on the way to Walnut Creek. If you're really interested in the whole shoot, go here. The session number is 107128 and password is THXPY.

Little Pony & Big Pony

Sarah was coloring in her My Little Pony coloring book today and decided she wanted pony hair. She picked the pony that had two high pony tails. I obliged and also put in two curly clips. She was in HEAVEN and insisted that I call her "Little Pony" and that she call me "Big Pony." In case you were wondering, William is a dog.


PS We had a blast at the Academy of Sciences during member's only hour. It was so much fun! We really need to go EVERY week until our pass expires in January. Call us if you want to come too. Our plan is to go on Tuesdays between 8:30 and 9 am and stay for a couple of hours. Our pass gets in a guest and all kids under 6!

William is 23 months

And a few days ... We love our William. He is such a fun kid to be around. This morning he woke up and started pointed at each person in our family and said something like this.

"Woah. Who's Dat? Dat's Mommy. Yup" (Big cheesy smile)
"Woah. Who's Dat? Dat's Rah-Rah. Yup" (Big cheesy smile)
"Woah. Who's Dat? Dat's Daddy. Yup" (Big cheesy smile )

And when I pointed to him and asked him, "Who's that?" He responded. "Dat's Wii-um" Oh how we love our sweet boy. I think today was the the first day he said his name as Wii-um. In the past couple of weeks he has started to say, "Wull" when he referred to himself.

So what's new this month? I'm not sure. Things have been just running together with everything going on. I can say that Will and Sarah are best friends. They love to hug and wrestle. It's adorable. They play well together most of the time. I sometimes have to remind Sarah to share, but mostly I just enjoy them playing together. It's a great age.

William is also starting to recognize letters. (Thank you Letter Factory!) We've put up different letters in our house and he will look at them and start sounding them out. He is really good at his "A" and "O" and "S" recognition. His favorite is "A" hands down.

His favorite book is "Moo, Baa, La La La!" by Sandra Boynton. If he's ever sad when I put him in his crib, I just open the book and start saying, "A cow says, Moo. A sheep says Baa. Three singing pigs say ..." and Will will chime in "Na Na Na" with a smile. He's getting better about saying all the animal sounds in the book. His "neigh" sounds more like a laugh (heheheheeee) and I love it.

William is so generous with giving us smiles, hugs and kisses. He loves to give high five, knuckles and noggin (Thanks Katie). He would wrestle with Daddy All.Day.Long if he could. He loves to run outside and explore.

We sure love you William. Thanks for being such a bright light in our family.

Dentist Appointments

Our beloved dentist is moving away so I decided William needed to see him before he leaves. Sarah went first to show William how it was done.


William was attentive.


Sarah was a pro - a model patient.


Ahhh. Clean teeth.


Will was up next. Dr. Blake commented on Will's active tongue.


Will wasn't too excited at the beginning ...



Daddy held his hand ...


But after receiving a toothbrush from a fellow dentist everything was much better.



A successful first visit for William. All teeth cleaned and we all left happy :)

NO no RAH rah.

This week I had to wake up William from his nap to pick up Sarah from preschool. Both times he stretched out on his bed and with his eyes still closed mumbled, "NO no RAH rah!" I really need to get a new video camera. It was so hilarious. He totally reminded me of a teenager that didn't want to get up to go to school.

William is 21 months!

With all the excitement building up to Cyndi's big day, I completely forgot to write about William's 21-month-milestone. It's so crazy to think that when William was born, Sarah was 21 months old. She seemed so grown up. Wow. I can't imagine having another newborn right now, but it will be fun to see what a good big brother he is at 28 months.

Our little boy has grown up so much lately. He's quite the talker. At Cyndi's wedding he kept saying, "Pretty Dress." He loved all the girls in their pretty dresses - especially Ninny's pretty wedding dress.

His new trick is to jump off of the couch or our bed. He's pretty fearless for sure. Of course, his forehead shows evidence of his many exploits. But he doesn't cry - or if he does at least it's never for very long.

He LOVES his big sister. William loves playing house with her and dress up. They also love running in the hallway kicking balls. William is quite the coordinated kicker. And he's got good aim in throwing too.

William continues to be a champion eater. This morning he ate through Sarah's and my oatmeal leftovers from breakfast. He's getting quite talented with his silverware. In fact, he doesn't like to sit down and eat without it.

Dora and Letter Factory top William's movie hits. He can sit through the whole movie without getting distracted or needing anything. Which, for now, is sooooo nice for me. My house should be spotless, but ...

Will loves running up and down ramps of any sort. He loves the park and being outside. Oh how we need a backyard! We did have a great, sunny time at the park today. Yippee for 70 degree weather! We hope it stays a while.

His vocabulary gets bigger every day. I love that he says "Ra-Ra" now. He still calls most adults "Mommy" (even Daddy - much to his Daddy's chagrin.) William will parrot most words and gets a big grin on his face when he knows he said it right. He's just adorable.

Happy 21 Months William!

William's New Talent

William says, "I Poopy" and with one hand grabs at his stinky diaper. If a new diaper is in sight he will lay next to it so I can change his diaper. Ahh, lovely.

William is 20 Months!

Sorry for the fuzzy pics, but my subject kept moving!



William has blossomed this last month. He is definitely a toddler these days, but is still my sweet baby boy. While we've been in Utah with cousins, he has expanded his vocabulary and learned how to do a few mini-tantrums.

I think his new favorite word is COOKIE.

He loves to say nite-nite when I put him in the pack-n-play for naps and bedtime.

He LOVES LOVES LOVES stories. It's adorable to see him pick up a book and point it in your direction with an "uh uh" (Read to me please).

He still loves his rocks.

William loves his cousins - especially the babies and the two girls his same height. He was running from one end of Grandma & Boppa's house to the other and back and forth and again with Lucy tonight. (She's 8 months older). I even heard the report that he was holding Lucy's hand - quite a feat since he doesn't like to do that with any other kid ...

He loves running around Grandma & Boppa's vast homestead. I think he'll be fine moving from our one-bedroom apartment ANYTIME.

If Will doesn't want to do something he will let you know by running in place with his head shaking back and forth while looking down and an "eh eh eh" coming from his mouth. Awesome.

But he's still mommy's cuddle bug. I love his plentiful hugs and kisses. I love my boy!

William is 19 Months!

William is such a kid these days. It's so fun being his Mommy. Here are some of my favorites:

* Singing time in Nursery: I LOVE watching William dance around while we sing, "In the Leafy Treetops," "Jesus Said Love Everyone," "I am Like a Star" ... etc. Or when he does the actions for "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home." I promise to video Will and Sarah signing the "Daddy song!" It's adorable.

* Pee-se: Also known as please. He even tries to do the sign for it at the same time. Can I just say it MELTS MY HEART every time.

* Books: Ever since we put these bookshelves in Sarah and William's room, William has been so infatuated with books. His favorite right now is "Moo Baa LaLaLa" by Sandra Boynton. I read it at least 3 or 4 times before he lets me go on to another book. He LOVES saying "lalala" (which really sounds like ("nanana"). I can't help myself from giggling every time. It's so stinkin' cute. Sandra Boynton is one of our favorites. Sarah's favorite book for the longest time was "Oh My! Oh My! Oh Dinosaurs."

* Hallway Ball Time: My kids love their backyard hallway. I often open the front door to our apartment and let the kids take a couple of balls out in the hallway to kick around. They love it. I love it. Ahhh. The joys of apartment living.

* Cuddles: William is a cuddler. I love his lovin'. He's especially cuddly when he's tired or has just woken up. His hugs couldn't be sweeter.

* Prayer Time: I love that he can fold his arms. Thank you Papas! (his AMAZING nursery leaders) When it's time to fold his arms, he gives me a big grin and tries to hold his arms together.

* Words: They are coming! His favorites are ball, blocks (read: bauchs), books, please, dada, mama, hot, wow, truck, car and bus.

* Cooling down his food: If something's too hot, he'll say, "hot" and then proceed to shake his head while blowing on his food.

* Begging for kisses: When he sees Mommy and Sarah get their kisses from Daddy, William goes "uh uh" and makes a kissing noise to let Roger know it's his turn.

* Holds his own with big sister Sarah. I love how well they are playing together. This is such a fun stage for our family. He loves being her shadow and she can't wait for him to wake up from his naps each day so they can play some more.

William we love you!

First Day of Nusery

Today marks another great milestone in William's life. Rog and I dropped off Sarah and then William to their respective nursery classes and enjoyed delightful lessons in Sunday School and Priesthood/Relief Society. Ahhh. Can we say Bliss?

William walked right in, found a car and started pushing it around the floor. He didn't look back. When I came back for singing time - I'm the song leader - William was sitting at the table finishing his snack. He joined the group and waved the visual aids around as we sang. (Side: We have cool hearts and stars on sticks that some super diligent nursery song leader made a while back.) He mostly looked around and watched, but still very happy.

When I came back to pick him up he was all smiles as his nursery leader Cedric blew bubbles. William had such a fun time and the nursery leaders said he was sooooooo good. Such a happy, chill child. They'd even go as far to say he was their favorite except they had their own kid in the class ... I'm thrilled he had a great time. And the best part? William was soooooo good for Sacrament Meeting.

Nursery - The best Mom's Day present in the world!

And just to compare ... Here's Sarah's first day experience.

Tot Time

When we started tot time last Fall it was all about Sarah and her friends. Now that William is 17 months, he is quite the participant. He LOVES playing each week in the big gym. This week he even tried the "races." Oh how I love how he runs :)

Little Man is 17 Months

Did another month just zoom by? I guess it's time to post another month of William.

* Will has another tooth poking up on the bottom - making 11 teeth in his mouth.

* William runs super fast now. One of his favorite past times is to run though the open doors in our apartment over and over and over. He also loves to kick balls, roll cans, push cars, build blocks, and play peek-a-boo with my curtains and his hands. He likes to practice "walking" stairs. He loves to throw stuff. I often find blocks and other toys in my bathtub. At least it's not in the toilet - yet.


* He doesn't like to be left out of anything. He is DYING to go to nursery. When I dropped Sarah off last week he gave his siren scream as I walked away with him from the room full of toys.

* He LOVES chocolate - especially M&Ms and chocolate chip cookies. He LOVES Daddy's juice, which keeps him nice and regular. (We call him our little stinker)

* Will loves to play tackle-mommy-while-mommy-attempts-to-do-sit-ups. It's a funny game.

* Sarah can get Will to laugh better than anyone. I have a feeling that William will be the kid that always encourages the class clown. He's so easily entertained - especially by silly stuff.

* I love that he LOVES doing anything with Sarah. He watches her every move and wants to be big and do what she's doing. He definitely loves his big sister.

William - 16 Months

William loves rocks. Picking them up, eating them, throwing them ... he just can't get enough of them!


Also on his list of favorites continues to be peek-a-boo. The other day he was using a coloring book to cover his face. On a comparison note, William will cover his eyes with his hands to play peek-a-boo. Sarah would cover her ears instead. Aw. Love it.


William is learning a few more words. He has added "Yes" and "Mama" to his repertoire.

He also has started to be a funny eater. It doesn't matter if we are eating his "favorite" foods, he will turn his head when I try to feed it to him. Or he will ignore that there is food on his tray until I force it into his mouth. The funny part is that as soon as he gets a taste of whatever it is we're eating, he is full-steam ahead and gobbles it up. Silly boy.

It was fun to see Will's personality come out on our Mommy-Son trip. He definitely is all boy and I love getting to be with him!

William's stats are in

Weight: 25 lbs - 60th percentile
Height: 32 inches - 75th percentile
Head Circumference: 47.2 cm - 50th percentile

Will is 14 Months

William has definitely done some growing up this past month. As soon as he turned 13 Months, he was all about the walking thing. And now he's quite the toddling boy. Note to self, I should probably get him walking on video ...

Will's favorite things these days are to unload, walk, eat, jabber, and anything outside. He likes other things too, but mostly those five.

He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to eat. This week, we discovered he likes to eat cucumbers. It's nice to know he'll eat veggies in addition to all the fruit he devours. (Roger calls him our bear cub). Actually, William isn't too picky on food and most of the time he's happy to eat Sarah's untouched plate in addition to his own. His favorite foods hands down are blueberries.

William tends to unload the play food basket several times a day. And sometimes he even puts some of the food back in. He LOVES "playing" with his big sister - or at least be right in the middle of whatever she's doing. Sometimes Sarah is even OK with her little brother "getting her stuff." I believe her exact phrase is, "She get my stuff." We're still working on pronouns. They do love to laugh together and "get" each other. William has figured out how to pull Sarah's hair. Mostly, it's just accidental, but sometimes I wonder ...

William has also discovered his voice this past month. At his 1-year appointment the doctor asked me if he was starting to say words. Um that would be no. William barely mumbled consonants and did his fair share of girly screaming. He now says, "uh-oh" and "Da-Da." He refuses to say "ma ma" but we get a lot of jabbering besides. He definitely has stories to tell.

This kid LOVES anything outside. Will can be quite content to stand at the window and watch the buses, cars, and trucks whiz by. Anytime the front door opens, he is now RUNNING to escape. He heads straight for the stairs. He used to start climbing up them, but now that he knows how to go down the stairs, that is his favorite thing to do. He loves toddling around in our lobby with Sarah. If they weren't so LOUD in their running around (and screaming at the top of their lungs) I'd probably even do it more often. At least our lobby and stairs gives us a little more "space."

Well, that's all for this month. We sure love our growing boy. His belly gets bigger and bigger each day. The only thing stopping him from eating more is his lack of teeth. He still just has the four.

OK really that's all folks. Until next time.

Knuckles

I've been meaning to post William's knuckle crawl for months. Now that he's walking, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he completely gives up his knuckle crawl. I'm definitely going to miss it.

Here he is in all his glory: